Congress on Saturday demanded the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Congress alleged that he has no moral right to be in office as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ‘clearly indicted’ him in the excise policy scam case. A PMLA court took notice of the charge sheet on Thursday and permitted that charges be prepared against all the defendants, according to Ajay Maken, who claimed that a Rs 100 crore kickback had been proved against Kejriwal and his ministers in the fraud.
Maken while talking to the media said, “The Indian National Congress demands the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with the indicted ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.” He added that they have no moral right to continue in office.
He said that the charge sheet also detailed the money trail, which led to election ads in Goa and cash payments to survey volunteers.
Maken said that a DANICS officer stated the GOM report calling for a 12% margin for wholesalers of liquor was given to him at Kejriwal’s house while Sisodia and Jain were also there. He asserted that he had not had any talks regarding this report before it was given to him. He said, “From this 12 per cent margin to the wholesalers, 6 per cent is alleged to be paid back as a kickback.”
Additionally, he claimed that the exchequer suffered losses as a result of the concessions made by the Kejriwal administration to the industry, including the Rs 144.36 crore in liquor licence fees that were waived in response to COVID-19.
Additionally, he claimed that Airport L-1’s Rs 30 crore EMD (earnest money deposit) was returned and that the profit margin grew from 5 to 12 percent. However, he claimed that the licensee was not charged for a 10% boost.
The former Delhi Congress chief also said, “Delhi asks Kejriwal… Where is Lokpal?”.
Maken claimed that at special sessions of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, in courts, on the streets, and on trivial matters, one witnesses a “Kejriwal versus Delhi L-G” every day.
He asked, “But have we ever seen Kejriwal or the AAP protesting for Lokpal? In 2014, Kejriwal asked for the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly in favour of passing the Lokpal Bill. Where is that Bill now?”
“The Kejriwal government has ensured that even a weak Lokayukta is non-functional in Delhi,” the Congress leader alleged.
He stated that even though the Lokayukta’s yearly reports have been approved by the Lieutenant Governor, they have not been tabled in the House since 2017–18.
“Ever since Kejriwal came to power, the Lokayaukta, in its reports, has been flagging various debilitating constraints being faced by it in terms of its independence, lack of powers, compromised financial autonomy, or non-availability of any machinery for conducting investigations, but all in vain,” he told media.
A portion of the purported Rs 100 crore in “kickbacks” from the scrapped Delhi excise policy, according to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), were allegedly utilised in the AAP’s 2022 Goa assembly election campaign.
Additionally, it has been stated that a close aide of the Delhi chief minister set up a FaceTime video conversation for one of the defendants, Sameer Mahandru, on his iPhone.
According to the ED, Kejriwal informed Mahandru that the aide is “his boy” and that he should be trusted and continued working with.
Kejriwal dismissed the charge sheet, claiming that the agency’s claims are “false” and that they are being used to “topple” governments and buy MLAs at the behest of the Centre.
(With PTI inputs)